LAST month, Red Pepper magazine announced its final print copy. To anyone committed to left-wing journalism, independent media, getting out news from the movements, here and internationally, then this is a blow. There is little enough media on our side — and we can’t afford to lose any of it. 

So I want to pay tribute to Red Pepper’s founding editor, Hilary Wainwright, and her talented editorial teams, that produced Red Pepper for over 30 years. I didn’t always agree with the articles, but really, so what? Who doesn’t want debate and discussion, and Red Pepper was always well-informed, principled and well-written. 

When it was founded, explicitly as a left publication independent of the Labour Party, it had real appeal. I always appreciated its coverage of the left in Europe, its commitment to the World Social Forum process, its informed writings on defence diversification, and its support for the cause of peace. 

I well remember its detailed interview with Bruce Kent, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when it published Bruce’s powerful critique of Nato and its role in bringing about that war.

So why did Red Pepper decide to cease printing? There are a number of factors. One is clearly financial. They have always relied almost entirely on thousands of individual subscribers, donors, occasional one-off grants, and ethical advertising sales. This financial independence was crucial to their political and journalistic independence. 

But as Hilary Wainwright herself has said, “Our business model faltered.” Since the 2010s, readers have increasingly looked online for debate and analysis. But Red Pepper didn’t want to put up a paywall; they wanted their politics to reach the widest possible audience, so they made print content freely available over the months following a new issue.

They also had a “pay-what-you-want” subscription offer, which helped attract and retain subscribers, but they didn’t do enough to encourage uplifts. Most subscribers paid the same rate for over a decade at a time when the price of inputs has been going up and up. 

And in these strained economic times, fewer people were able to work for the magazine or offer their time voluntarily, to keep the editorial and journalistic show on the road.

But this is not all a story of doom and gloom. In the typically creative Red Pepper way, they will continue to produce quality journalism online, and are working with their readers — and hopefully a widening pool of new online readers — to find out how Red Pepper can continue to make “an important, accessible contribution to internationalist socialist debate and action.” 

Red Pepper has launched a community consultation, in person and online (tinyurl.com/RedPepperConsult) where those of us committed to independent left media can feed back to support and shape the future of this important part of the left. 

We need to value and support our left-wing media, whether in print or online, and this is where we all need to step up and give more support to the Morning Star. If we make donations, where we can, let’s increase them in line with inflation. And we can all find ways of increasing its readership and circulation. Now’s the time to make sure we retain the daily paper of the left!